Friday, September 30, 2011

Diary of Musical Thoughts Podcast Episode 5

"The Vainqueur:Elevations mix" (30 minutes)

What's better than baking to the hyper-minimal sloshing of Vainqueur in the summertime? For me, there's almost no better summer jam than Vainqueur's classic 1997 album, "Elevations". If the sun doesn't dehydrate you to the point of deliriousness first, then this stuff will.

The mix came together quickly, I was listening to the album, figured why not make a mix with this material (featuring every track on the album), thought up a track ordering that seemed to be reasonable, recorded one take that didn't really satisfy me, recorded a second take. It's the second take that appears here exactly as is -- no edits or added effects.

Unfortunately I didn't have any of the original vinyl 12"'s with me and had to settle for the CD versions instead. Not only are the CD tracks edited down, often quite severely, but they're also mastered differently and sound completely different (and inferior) -- distorted, muddy bass; less dynamic treble (which is particularly hard on the whooshing atmospherics that are a signature component of this type of music), and beats that could have been recorded in a swamp. Still, it's one of the greatest techno albums ever, re-jigged and "edited" from sixty minutes down to thirty, so what are you waiting for?

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